Indian-meal Gruel
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
In a pot, combine 1 pint of water and ½ teaspoon of coarse sea salt.
In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of Indian meal with a little cold water until smooth.
Cook
Add the smooth mixture to the pot and then pour in 1 quart of boiling water.
Boil for 4 hours.
Serve
When ready to serve, stir in 1 cup of hot milk.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Indian meal
- Its starch swells and thickens the liquid as it cooks, giving the gruel its body.
- Hot milk
- Adds richness and a soft, creamy texture when stirred in at the end.
The step that matters
Adding the smooth mixture to the boiling water. Meal starch clumps when it meets hot liquid without being dispersed first. Mixing it smooth in cold water beforehand lets the starch granules separate and thicken evenly as the gruel heats.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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